NHS staffing levels in England have seen huge growth in the last 10 years, particularly among managers, according to new figures.

The NHS workforce census shows that by the end of September last year 1.4 million people were working in the health service, but numbers have now started to decline as budgets are squeezed.

During the 10 years up to September 2010 the number of managers rose dramatically to 41,962, an increase of 66 per cent.

But the census, completed by the NHS Information Centre, reveals that the number of managers fell by 2,770 in the 12 months up to September 2010.

With the government’s radical NHS reforms on the horizon, provisional figures for December show that the trend has continued, as 1,143 managing posts were lost.

More jobs are expected to go when the government’s reforms are put into effect.

The census also revealed that in the past decade workforce numbers grew in almost every category of NHS staff.

There was also a 25 per cent rise in the number of GPs, a rise of more than 50 per cent in the number of consultants and a 20 per cent increases in the number of qualified nurses.

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